Lucknow, Sep 30 The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday quashed disciplinary proceedings against IAS officer Rajesh Kumar Singh for giving a "no objection" to a CBI closure report, holding that his action, in the absence of any mala fide or corrupt motive, could not be treated as misconduct.
A Lucknow bench of justices Alok Mathur and Amitabh Kumar Rai also quashed the charge sheet and all consequential penalty proceedings against Singh and directed the authorities to restore all service benefits, including promotional and monetary entitlements, that he would have received had the disciplinary proceedings not been initiated, within 12 weeks.
Singh was serving as joint secretary and chief vigilance officer in the Department of Heavy Industry when he was directed to lodge an FIR with the CBI against M K Singh, then CMD of Bridge & Roof Co (India) Ltd, Kolkata.
The CBI subsequently registered a case alleging offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and provisions of the IPC.
After completing its investigation, the CBI filed a closure report before the special CBI court. Singh, who was the complainant in the case, appeared before the court on September 1, 2018.
On the advice of the prosecuting officer, Singh stated that he had no objection to the closure report, following which the court accepted it.
The department subsequently initiated disciplinary proceedings against Singh, alleging that he had acted contrary to its directions and failed to protect its interests.
The Central Administrative Tribunal, Lucknow, rejected his challenge to the charge sheet in December 2025, following which he approached the high court.
The high court examined two communications issued by the department on August 20, 2018, and found that they did not contain any clear direction to Singh to oppose the closure report.
The court also noted that the department itself had sought a re-look by the CBI and had stated that it had not received the detailed investigation report, according to the order.
The bench observed that if the department intended to oppose the closure report, it could have filed a protest petition before the special CBI court, but no such petition was filed, it added.
The court further observed that Singh's "no objection" had no bearing on the acceptance of the closure report and there was no allegation of mala fide, collusion with the accused or the investigating agency, or any corrupt motive.
Holding that the charge of misconduct was not made out, the bench allowed Singh's writ petition and set aside the disciplinary proceedings, including the charge sheet and consequential penalty proceedings, according to the order.
The court directed the authorities to restore all consequential service benefits to Singh within 12 weeks.
